Cage Play Interview
June 23, 2008
We are less than a week away from UCW’s “Heatwave” and in the main event UFC Vet Alberto Crane is taking on Canada’s Simon Marini. Simon was gracious enough to take a few minutes out of his busy training schedule.
1) For those who don’t know who you are, tell us a bit about yourself. Where you are from, and how many matches you’ve had.
I’m born and raised in Hamilton, Ontario. I’ve only been fighting for a little over a year now, but have been training in BJJ for the last 4 years. I’ve had 3 amateur, and 5 professional fights.
2) What does a typical week of training entail for you?
A day of fight conditioning and functional strength with my coach Adam Morden from Steel City Crossfit, rotated with a day of powerlifting. Taking 1 day off a week.
training with my coach and good friend Bryan Edge at cutting edge martial arts every night and mornings on the weekend. There we cover everything: BJJ, Wrestling, Boxing, Kickboxing, and MMA.
I also look to fit in extra training wherever possible. I’ll make trips out to various other clubs to get some work in with different guys, keep things fresh.
3) This fight is taking place at 155 pounds, what weight do you walk around at, and how is the weight cut for you?
After my last fight I got up to 193lbs. It was my first time fighting at 155 and so I knew I could gain a lot of mass, so combined with my strength and power training I was strictly adhering to my strength coach’s “all of it” diet… In which whenever I asked what I could eat he’d simply reply “all of it” haha
After getting back into the swing of things though my weight dropped easily back down to 180. I’ve been dieting for the last couple of weeks and am currently sitting at 170lbs.
Crane wanted a catch-weight of 160 for this fight as well. So I’m golden right now, this last 10lbs will be a piece of cake, pretty much all water weight.
4) Do you think you will be stronger than Alberto?
I KNOW I will be stronger than Alberto. I don’t want to sound cocky, but I will definitely be the stronger and better conditioned fighter entering into the cage that night.
5) He is a master BJJ competitor with some high level MMA experience, how do you plan on taking that advantage away from him?
He’s got to get me to the ground first. And I’ve seen his takedown ability, and it’s quite lacking. I’m going to make him hurt before, during and after every takedown attempt
Of course I’m not so stupid as to think we won’t end up on the ground at some point either. We’ve trained A LOT on submission defense and ground control.
6) He has improved his striking, and almost knocked out Pelligrino with a high kick. How do you plan to take him apart standing?
I’m very confident in my ability to destroy any advantage he may or may not have.
My striking has come a long way as well, it’s been the biggest part of my training for my last few fights.
My coaches and I sat down and dissected his striking skills, and we got a good game plan put together.
7) Winning this fight should really put you on the radar at 155. Where do you want to take your fight career.
All the way to the top of course. I can’t wait till I get to fight top level lightweights, that’s when this will REALLY get fun. Throwing down with guys like Sean Sherk, Nick Diaz, BJ Penn, Roger Huerta, etc. That will be awesome.
As far as organizations go, I want to be treated properly. Just like any athlete, I want to find a league that takes care of it’s talent, and somewhere that I can find some solid knowledgeable fans .
You don’t feel Alberto Crane is a top level Lightweight? He’s only lost twice in the UFC?
haha Yeah true. His only losses are against great guys in the UFC, but I still look at him as more of an amazing BJJ guy, not an amazing mixed martial artist.
9) We’ll this is your biggest fight to date, and we wish you luck. We’ll be there covering the event and look forward to your first Main Event!
Thanks. And to the fans, just be sure to remember the name, cause Simon Marini is going to be putting on some kickass fights in the future, fights you won’t want to miss!
Article Up On Xtreme Lifestyle
June 17, 2008
The Centre for Chiropractic Health Summer Newsletter
June 17, 2008
Pre-UCW 12 Article by Jaguar Media
June 8, 2008
Article featured on myself by Christina Sears of Jaguar Media.
SIMON MARINI LOOKS TO HEAT THINGS UP
By: Christina Sears
The Winnipeg Convention Centre will be on fire June 27 as the UCW presents their next event “Heat Wave”.
The main event will be in the 155 pound division with Simon Marini and UFC vet Alberto Crane.
Crane is a well known Brazilian Jiu Jitsu fighter who has finished seven of his eight wins by submission. His only losses being against Kurt Pellegrino and Roger Huerta in the UFC. Crane hasn’t fought since his last bout in January of 2008.
Simon Marini of Dundas Ontario has only been fighting professionally since August of 2007. He is the man who will be fighting Alberto Crane in the main event. He holds a professional mixed martial arts record of 4-1 inside the cage, finishing three of his four wins by submission.
At twenty-two years old this fight at UCW 12 will be his first time being in the main event.
“Really, I don’t think of myself as a big-time main event fighter. Totally pumped that I am though, I’m treating it like any other fight,” he says.
When Marini isn’t working as a personal trainer at Phoenix Fitness in Dundas, he’s training at Cutting Edge Martial Arts with his coach Bryan Edge. There Marini works on his jiu jitsu, wrestling, boxing, and MMA.
“I don’t think I could ever find a better coach than I have there in Bryan Edge,” Marini says.
But mixed martial arts have progressed so much over a short period of time. Knowing your stuff just isn’t enough to win a fight. Strength and conditioning is a huge part of being a professional fighter.
In between training sessions at Cutting Edge, Simon is doing his strength and conditioning with Adam Morden at Steel City Crossfit.
“The things they put me through there are worse (both physically and mentally) than anything I would come up against in a fight. The training is so brutal, and I love it,” he says.
Bryan Edge, owner of Cutting Edge MMA says that when he first heard that Simon had a chance to fight Alberto Crane he wanted him to jump at this fight.
“It’s a great test for him; I think he will do very well. I believe they (the UCW) matched Alberto with Simon because they want to see where Simon’s skills are and see if he really is as good as he has showed in previous events” says Edge.
Marini does admit that he’s never fought someone with such a high level of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu before, but has been working a lot on his submission defense and top control.
“Alberto is going to have to rip his arm off or choke his ass out if he’s going to win. Simon is going to be tough to catch,” says Edge.
The odds are stacked against this young fighter from Dundas but his coach Bryan Edge feels that win or lose he sees Simon getting a title shot in the UCW, or in some other event and he will keep fighting tough opponents like Alberto Crane. Edge says this is a good fight for Simon because no one will expect him to win.
For ticket information on Ultimate Cage Wars 12 check out www.ultimagecagewars.com
Crossfit Toal
June 3, 2008
Saturday May 31st the Crossfit Total was held across the country. I was able to compete at our area’s event located at Steel City Crossfit
Here are my lift numbers:
Squat – 315 lbs
Strict Press – 180 lbs
Deadlift – 405 lbs
I can’t wait to do it again! Gonna shatter those numbers! For the results of everybody that competed at Steel City Crossfit, as well as the numbers pulled in from people all throughout the crossfit community be sure to check out www.crossfithamilton.com and www.crossfit.com
